


Can you hear the stars

by WolfKomoki



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s04e01 The Flash Reborn, Leonard Snart Lives, M/M, Season 4 Spoilers, Spoilers, The flash 4x01
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-01-16 13:57:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfKomoki/pseuds/WolfKomoki
Summary: Barry's been gone for six months. Leonard was starting to lose hope that Barry was even alive, and yet here he was standing at his doorstep.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The Flash is owned by The CW.  
> So if you haven't seen 4x01 yet, you should know that this has dialogue spoilers in chapter 1. Of course it's a canon divergence fic, but the dialogue is still pretty much from 4x01, albeit it with ColdFlash instead of WestAllen. So, if you haven't seen the episode yet, and spoilers bother you, well you might want to steer clear of this chapter until you watch the episode.

Leonard was in his safe house when he hears what sounds like a breach outside. Grabbing his cold gun, and glasses, he slowly walks outside to see Barry slowly stepping out of the breach.  


“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He gasps. Barry’s been gone for six months. For six months, he hasn’t seen any sign of the speedster, and yet here he was standing in front of him. Leonard runs up to him, and that’s when he sees Barry back away from him, eyes full of fear.

“Scarlet?” Leonard asks with concern. Barry was still backing away from him in fear, almost like he didn’t recognize him.

“Scarlet, it’s okay. You’re okay. Look at me. Look at me Barry.” Leonard calls, speaking as calmly as he can. Barry continues to back away from him, shaking in fear.

“Hey, hey. You’re okay, you’re okay. You’re safe now. You’re safe now Scarlet.” Leonard calls, trying to calm the frightened speedster. Barry didn’t seem to hear him though. He walks over towards a pen, and paper, rapidly scribbling some symbols on the paper.

“Barry. It’s me, It’s Leonard. Look at me.” Leonard pleads. Slowly, Barry turns around.

“Nora shouldn’t be here.” He speaks.

“What? Barry, it’s me. It’s Leonard.” Leonard says with confusion.

“Your honor, I’m innocent. I didn’t do this, I didn’t kill anyone!” Barry shouts.

“Hey, hey. Stop it! Stop it, I’m here!” Leonard shrieks.

“Can you hear the stars singing? Rhyming, chiming, timing every hour, every minute.” Barry asks.  
      
“You said the city was safe, that there was no residual danger, but that's not true!” Barry shouts, pointing to Leonard.  
  
“Hey, hey, hey! You did it, you saved the city! Everything is okay now!” Leonard calls.  
  
“What really happened that night? The city is safe?” Barry asks.  
  
“Yeah, kid, you did it. The city is safe.” Leonard answers.  
  
“Stars melting like ice cream, dream, gleam. Nothing seems-Nora shouldn’t be here!” Barry shouts.  
  
“Barry! Stop, just stop! Shh!” Leonard pleads, trying to get him to stop talking.  
  
“It's a whole new way of looking at physics.  
It will change the way that we think about everything, from a single atom to an entire galaxy.” Barry smiles.  
  
“God!” Barry groans, clutching his ears.  
  
“Stars so loud! Loud, cloud, proud.” Barry whines.  
  
“Scarlet! Scarlet look at me! Look at me Barry!” Leonard calls, still trying to get him to stop talking.  
  
“Dad and I are both okay. We're gonna be fine.” Barry sobs.  
  
“Barry! It’s okay, you’re okay!” Leonard calls, slowly walking over to Barry.  
      
“I'm just not sure I'm like you, Oliver.” Barry sighs. When Barry still didn’t stop talking, Leonard sighs. It was obvious that Barry wasn’t in there. Whatever happened in the speed force must have broken the speedster.  
  
“Barry, look at me, please.” Leonard pleads. When Barry still didn’t look at him, Leonard grabs him by his shoulder.  
  
“I know you’re in there somewhere, come back to me Scarlet.” He pleads.  
  
“Too soon. I think maybe later.” Barry protests.  
  
“Come on Barry, let’s get you inside, get you something to eat.” Leonard demands, slowly pulling the speedster inside.  
      
“No, thank you. I'm not hungry.” Barry protests. Leonard sighs. What was he supposed to do about this? How was he supposed to get Barry back?  
      
“He didn't do those things. He didn't hurt my mom. I was there that night. There was a man, plan. No plan.” Barry babbles, his voice becoming distressed.  
  
“Hey, Hey Barry, it’s okay. Okay? Let’s get you to bed.” Leonard speaks, trying to calm him.  
  
“We’re gonna need more diapers.” Barry laughs. Leonard blinks in confusion.  
  
“We’ll… we’ll get diapers later, okay? Let’s get you to bed.” Leonard calls, trying to get through to Barry.  
  
“I doubt restraint is how you got to be the man you are today, play, way, no way! Highway, byway!” Barry shouts, pacing around the room. Leonard sighs, nothing he was doing was working, so he walks over towards the sedatives he stole from Star Labs, and injects Barry with them. Leonard sighs with relief when Barry finally calms down. Now that Barry was standing still, Leonard could see that he has a beard.  
          
“You know Scarlet, you should keep the beard, it’s hot.” Leonard smiles, running his fingers through his beard. Now that Barry was calmer he could see just how out of it he really was. Barry’s eyes were blank, like he wasn’t all there, which was obvious by his incoherent rambling.  
          
“I don’t know what’s going on in there, but you’re safe now. You’re here, with me.” Leonard sighs, gently stroking Barry’s face. Barry wraps his arms around Leonard, slowly closing his eyes. Leonard puts his hand against Barry’s shoulder, slowly guiding him to the guest room. When he gets there, he tucks Barry in, watching as he slowly falls asleep. Afraid to leave him alone, Leonard crawls into the other side of the bed, covering him as he sleeps next to Barry. When Leonard wakes up, Barry’s side of the bed was empty, and that’s when he begins to worry.  
      
Leonard is up in seconds, searching the house for Barry. In his altered mindset Barry could be hurt, and Leonard would never forgive himself if Barry is hurt because he wasn’t watching him. When Leonard finds Barry, he’s sitting outside, staring up at the stars. Slowly, Leonard sits by Barry’s side.  
  
“What are you doing out here?” He asks.  
  
“Can you hear the stars? They’re singing.” Barry asks, pointing to the sky.  
  
“Let’s get back inside Barry.” Leonard demands, grabbing Barry by the arm as he pulls him up.  
  
“No, no! There was a man! A man in yellow! My dad didn’t do those things! I saw!” Barry shouts.  
  
“Hey, hey, hey. I know, I know, okay? I believe you. Come on, let’s get you to Star Labs” Leonard pleads. Barry grabs onto Leonard’s arm, and that’s when Leonard leads him inside one of his getaway cars, carefully strapping him in as he drives to Star Labs.

 


	2. Chapter 2

          Cisco, Caitlin, Iris, Joe, and Wally were in Star Labs when a breach appears on the monitors.

 “Guys? There’s a breach in Central City!” Cisco calls, pointing to the monitors.

         “Well, what the hell could it be?” Wally asks.

         “Do you think it’s Barry?” Caitlin asks.

         “No. Barry sacrificed himself to the speed force. He saved the world. If it was Barry, we would be facing the end of the world right now.” Iris insists.

 “Unless Jay chose to take his place.” Joe suggests.

         “Dad, why would he do that?” Iris scoffs.

 “Dude, what is your deal? It’s like you don’t even _want_ it to be Barry!” Cisco snaps.

         “Look Cisco, Barry chose to save us. We know that time is different in the speed force, so how do we know if Barry is even still alive?” Iris demands.

         “Iris, he’s gotta be.” Cisco insists. Before Iris had the chance to say anything else, a car pulls up in front of Star Labs.

         “What the _hell_?” Iris asks, and that’s when Leonard slowly walks in with Barry.

          “Hold up, did Snart just walk in here with Barry?” Wally asks, his eyes widening in shock.

 “Yes, I did walk in here with Scarlet. Look, there’s something wrong with him.” Leonard sighs.

         “What do you mean what’s wrong with him?” Iris asks. Barry runs frantically around the lab, looking for a marker, a pen, paint, something that he could use to draw out the symbols he’s seeing on the walls.

         “Barry! Barry, stop!” Joe calls, watching him run around the lab. He’s knocking everything down in his path, and he can’t seem to get Barry to hear him. Barry eventually finds a white marker in Star Labs, and that’s when he races himself inside the pipeline, slowly closing the door as he locks himself in.

         “Barry locked himself in the pipeline!” Cisco shrieks. He’s running now, running down to the pipeline to try to comfort his friend. When he finally gets down to the pipeline, he sees Barry sitting on the floor, staring at the symbols that he had drawn. Barry had drawn the incomprehensible symbols on every inch of that cell, and Cisco can’t even begin to understand it. So, he decides to climb into the cell with Barry.

         “Hey buddy.” He greets, a smile on his face. Barry doesn’t even look at him.

 “Harrison Wells' work in quantum theory is light years ahead of anything they're doing at CERN.” Barry speaks as he taps on the walls of the cell. Cisco frowns.

 “That’s nice Bar. Why don’t we come out of this cell for a while?” Cisco pleads.

         “I think the Mardon brothers are hiding on a farm. The fecal matter I found on the street, it was cow manure, which contains traces of Oxytetracycline.” Barry states as he points to the floor of the cell.

         “Do you want to see Star Labs Bar? Come on, I bet you’d love it.” Cisco asks. Barry still hasn’t looked at Cisco, but he’s trying the best that he can.

         “Where am I?” Barry asks, looking around the cell. Sighing, Cisco grabs his arm and pulls him out of the cell.

         “Look at me, look at me. It’s okay man. You’re not there anymore. You’re here, at Star Labs, with us.” Cisco speaks, gently cupping his face as he tries to get through to him.

         “Lightning gave me abs?” Barry asks. Cisco sighs. Barry isn’t in there, that much he knows. Still, it hurts him to see his friend this way.

         “Barry, let’s take you to Caitlin, okay? Let me help you.” Cisco pleads, slowly letting go of his face.

                  “I started remembering something. When I was eleven, my mother was murdered. It was late, a sound woke me up. I came downstairs, and I saw what looked like a ball of lightning. Inside the lightning, there was a man. He killed my mom. They arrested my dad. He's still sitting in Iron Heights for her murder.” Barry states. Cisco’s heart broke at that statement. Barry still thinks that Henry is alive.

         “It’s okay Barry, we proved his innocence.” Cisco states. Slowly, he grabs Barry’s hand, and that’s when he leads him into the cortex. Slowly, Joe walks up to Barry. When Joe sees the lack of recognition in his eyes, his heart breaks, and tears pour from his eyes.

         “Please come back to me Bar, I need you.” He pleads.

         “I know who did this. It's Clyde Mardon. I know, everybody thinks he died in a plane crash after the Star Labs explosion, but he is alive. All right, something happened to him that night. I... I think he can control the weather.” Barry insists.

 “The recent robberies, they all happened during freak meteorological events, and when I just confronted Mardon, the street was instantly enveloped in fog. Of course, you don't believe me. You never believe me.” Barry sighs. Joe continues sobbing at this point.

 “I believe you, okay? I believe you Bar.” Joe speaks, his voice breaking. Barry wraps his arms around Joe, and sobs.

 “I want my mom Joe. I want my mom.” He sobs. Joe holds Barry as tight as he can, gently patting Barry’s back as sobs wrack his body. He hates seeing him like this. The speed force wasn’t supposed to be hell for Barry, and yet here he was, completely broken. It was almost an hour before Barry stopped crying, and that’s when he looks up at Joe with a worried expression.

 “I don’t feel like myself.” He states. Well, Barry still hadn’t come back to him yet, but this was something at least.

 “Do you want us to examine you?” Joe asks.

 “Yes, I think so.” Barry answers as Joe takes him to the med bay. When he gets there, Caitlin lays him on the cot, hooking him to the usual machines. All his vitals look okay, but his brain activity was a little worrying.

 “Is his brain supposed to look like that?” Leonard asks, pointing to the monitors.

 “No. His brain activity is off the charts. It’s like he’s suffering from information overload.” Caitlin answers.

  
  


  
  


  
  


 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

When Barry was brought into Star Labs, he’s barely aware of where, or even when he was. His memories are all playing out of sync, past, present, future, Barry doesn’t even know what’s what anymore. He’s vaguely aware that he’s in a room, based on the worried voices that were speaking to him. Eventually Barry gets a moment of clarity, and that’s when he looks up at Joe in concern.

                        “I don’t feel like myself.” He states.

                        “Do you want us to examine you?” Joe asks.

                        “Yes, I think so.” Barry answers, and that’s when his clarity was gone. Joe takes Barry to the MED bay, helping him to the cot. Caitlin hooks him up to all the machines, hoping that she can figure out what’s wrong with the speedster. Barry’s vitals all came back okay, but the brain activity readings were what concerned her the most.

                        “Is his brain supposed to look like that?” Leonard asks, pointing to the monitors. Caitlin frowns.

                        “No. His brain activity is off the charts. It’s like he’s suffering from information overload.” She answers. Barry laid flat on the cot as the world was becoming quieter, and quieter. He was trapped in his memories, unable to determine what happened before, after, or in the future. Slowly, Cisco walks up to the speedster.

                        “I got you a new suit. You wanna take it for a spin?” He asks. Barry doesn’t respond, instead he continues to stare at the ceiling. Cisco frowns. I would’ve thought that would get a response out of him for sure.

                        “Come on, it’s really nice. I bet you’d love it.” Cisco says. Still, Barry doesn’t respond. Sighing, Cisco grabs his hand, trying to ground Barry.

                        “Hey buddy, you’re safe, okay? I promise. You’re not there anymore.” Cisco speaks, but he wasn’t sure if he was reaching Barry. Cisco refused to believe that Barry was gone, there was no way. Still, Barry doesn’t respond. Cisco sighs. Why couldn’t he get a response out of Barry?

                        “Hey Barry? I’m gonna let some of the others talk to you now, okay?” Cisco asks. Barry doesn’t respond. Sighing, Cisco leaves the room before he starts yelling. He knows Barry can’t help it, but it’s still frustrating.

                        “Bar?” Joe asks with concern as he gets closer to Barry. Barry was still staring at the ceiling, and he hasn’t responded to any of them. Joe sighs. What are they going to do? Why won’t Barry respond?

                        “Barry, you’re safe. I promise you, you’re not there anymore.” Joe calls, slowly sitting next to Barry. He sighs when he doesn’t respond.

                        “Whatever is going on in there, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” He informs. Tears started pouring from his eyes as he looks at Barry’s glassy, unfocused eyes. He just wants his son back, is that too much to ask for?

                        “Hey, I think we’re crowding him. Let’s give him some privacy.” Caitlin suggests, and that’s when all but Joe leaves the room.

                        “You know when your twelfth birthday rolled around I remember you asking if it was okay for you to celebrate your birthday. I’d asked you why on Earth you thought that you weren’t allowed to celebrate your birthday, and the first thing you said to me was: is it okay for me to celebrate without my mom?” Joe recalls. He still remembers the day that Barry was brought into his home, that had been the saddest day ever for Joe.

                        “I want you to know that it’s okay that you’re overloaded right now. I’m just glad to have you back.” Joe says. Slowly Barry’s eyes focus as he looks at Joe.

                        “The thing about time is that it can be easily manipulated. The least little deviation from the timeline can lead to a cataclysm. Stars are singing, ringing, meaning, falling. Chiming every hour, every minute.” Barry finally speaks.

                        “Do you want to draw the symbols again Bar?” Joe asks, grateful that he’s at least speaking again.

                        “Don’t think… no. Shouldn’t. Unfocused. Tick, tick, tick.” Barry says, clutching his ears as he curls himself into a ball. Frowning, Joe decides to try something he hasn’t done since Barry was a kid, he decides to sing.

                                    “ _It seems we stood and talked like this before_

_We looked at each other in the same way then_

_But I can't remember where or when_

_The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore_

_The smile you are smiling you were smiling then_

_But I can't remember where or when_

_Some things that happen for the first time_

_Seem to be happening again_

_And so it seems that we have met before_

_And laughed before and loved before_

_But who knows where or when?_

_When you're awake, the things you think_

_Come from the dreams you dream_

_Thought has wings_

_And lots of things_

_Are seldom what they seem_

_Sometimes you think you've lived before_

_All that you live today_

_Things you do_

_Come back to you_

_As though they knew the way_

_Oh, the tricks your mind can play!_

_It seems we stood and talked like this before_

_We looked at each other in the same way then_

_But I can't remember where or when_

_The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore_

_The smile you are smiling you were smiling then_

_But I can't remember where or when_

_Some things that happen for the first time_

_Seem to be happening again_

_And so it seems that we have met before_

_And laughed before and loved before_

_But who knows where or when?_

_And so it seems that we have met before_

_And laughed before, and loved before_

_But who knows where or when?_ ” He sang. As Joe sang to Barry, Barry slowly laid back against the cot, slowly falling asleep to Joe’s voice. Caitlin had already taken off the machine to monitor Barry’s brain, so the only equipment left was the ones needed to measure his vitals. Joe motioned for the rest of them to return, and that’s when Caitlin wraps Barry up in some blankets, hoping to help ground the speedster.

 

 

 

 


End file.
